PDF The European and the Indian: Essays in the Ethnohistory of Colonial North America by James Axtell in History

Description

Part animal and part intellectual; an image found in virtually every Indian home; Ganesa; the elephant-headed god; is one of the most important and popular gods throughout India and Hindu Southeast Asia. In this; the first comprehensive; full-length study of Ganesa; Courtright covers not merely the mythology but also the ritual; the political uses; and the modern as well as the Vedic manifestations of the god. The book begins with a consideration of the various myths of Ganesa; stories of his birth; his beheading by his father Siva; and his subsequent restoration as the lord who gives; or withholds; success in undertakings. In the end; the author turns to the role Ganesa has played in recent Indian history as the patron deity of some formulations of neotraditionalist values and ideology. Throughout the book; Courtright portrays both the complexity of the deity's many roles and stories and the integrated manner in which they come together.Excerpt from the Preface by Wendy O'Flaherty:"Ganesa has everything that is fascinating to anyone who is interested in religion or India or both: charm; mystery; popularity; sexual problems; moral ambivalence; political importance; the works. One can start from Ganesa and work from there in an unbroken line to almost any aspect of Indian culture."